Clara GAA Notes
Fixtures
Tues 31st May: Div 3 Hurling League Vs Shinrone in Shinrone at 8pm Fri 3rd June: U14 A Football Championship Vs DER Gaels in Clara at 7.30pm
Fri 3rd June: Div 1 Football League Vs Edenderry in Clara at 8pm
Sat 4th June: Div 5 Football League Vs Tullamore in O’Brien Park at 6.30pm
Sun 5th June: U12 Hurling Go Games Vs Edenderry in Edenderry at 11am
U14 Offaly Football
Well done to the 3 Clara representatives Dion Conroy, Adam Kelly and Luke Kennedy who lined out for the Offaly U14 Footballers on Saturday last as they played Tipperary in Thurles.
Monster Bingo
Clara GAA club will be holding a Monster Bingo on Sunday 12th June in the GAA Centre. All welcome.
Table Quiz
There will be a table quiz this coming Friday night at 9.30pm in Baggots. The table quiz is being run to fund the adult training fund. A table of four on the night costs €20. All welcome.
Congratulations
Clara GAA Club would like to congratulate our patron Fr. Keary who is celebrating his Golden Jubilee as a priest.
St. Francis B.N.S.
Well Done to the St. Francis Boys school hurling team who played Killoughey in the Division two Cumann na mbunscol hurling final in Birr last Wednesday 25th May 2016. It was a fantastic game of hurling from beginning to end and was surely one of the best schools hurling finals ever witnessed in St. Brendan’s Park, Birr. Clara opened the scoring with a great goal and a point courtesy of Conor Doyle. Killoughey settled into the game however and responded back with some great scores of their own , dominating the rest of the opening half, leaving Clara trailing by eight points at the half time interval.
Clara ,now playing with the breeze, resumed the second half intent on cutting the deficit. A switch of Conor Doyle and Nathan Taylor to the half forward line began to reap dividends when Eoin Gavin twice soloed through the Killoughey defence to score two great goals. Nathan Taylor added another goal and a point from Conor Doyle reduced the margin to three points with eight minutes to go. The game was now up for grabs and with Barry Egan and Rocky McDonagh getting on top in midfield , it looked like Clara could do it.
However, Killoughey struck back with great points and a goal to increase their lead. Clara battled back to the very end , however Killoughey prevailed to leave the full time score Killoughey 4.12 and Clara 4.06.
Despite their defeat , this was a fantastic performance by Clara players in all sectors of the field. Clara can take great pride in their performance and for everyone who was at the game, it was one of the best school’s hurling finals in recent years. In an entertaining game, the standard of hurling throughout from both teams was excellent and the skills on display were a showcase for everything that is good about the game.
Dylan Gallagher had another distinguished performance in goals with excellent saves and defending . Callum Dunne, Neil Robbins , James Dunne and Lewis Kavanagh were tenacious in defence. Marcus Dalton at centre back was simply exceptional throughout and gave a hurling exhibition of high fielding ,catching and defending , some of which would not even be seen on a county hurling team. His and Conor Doyle’s ‘never say die’ attitude particularly in second half, inspired much of Clara’s second half comeback.
The energetic Barry Egan and industrious Rocky McDonagh were simply magnificent in midfield, with both players giving it their all. Forwards Liam Flynn, Nathan Taylor and David Kelly also played very well. Centre Forward Eoin Gavin and Captain Conor Doyle , were outstanding, leading the comeback in the second half with some great catching , solo runs and accurate score taking. They were a constant thorn in Killougheys side, and combined well in the second half to score two great goals.
A sincere word of thanks to teachers Declan Ward and Ronan Lally from the boys school for training the team and to school principal Mrs.Clare Kenny for all her support of GAA in the school.
Thanks also to Birr GAA for having St. Brendan’s Park in such great condition, Tomas Flaherty and Offaly Cumann na Mbunscol for organising the final and also referee Kieran Dooley who refereed the game in a fair and sporting manner. Despite their defeat, these boys can take great credit for their display and hopefully , with some more training they can go one better next year. Well Done boys and keep up the good work.
St. Francis N.S. Clara : Dylan Gallagher , Callum Dunne, Neil Robbins, James Dunne, Marcus Dalton, Lewis Kavanagh, Barry Egan , Rocky McDonagh, Conor Doyle, Eoin Gavin, David Kelly, Liam Flynn, Nathan Taylor. David Higgins , Aaron Wynne, Dominic Scully, Jack Guinan, Jack Butler, Greg Byrne, Conor Taylor, Dylan Weir, Ciaran Mckeon , Jonah Devine, Alex handy, Jamie Larkin, John Guilfoyle
Lotto Results
The draw for the weekly club lotto took place on Sunday night last at Bingo. The numbers drawn were: 3-9-13-20. There was no winner of the jackpot. We had 6 match 3’s who receive €25 each. These were: Sandra & Mary Buckley, Lorraine Mooney, Leslie Cornally, Arlene + Fergal, Louise Gavin and MJ Connolly.
Next weeks’ jackpot is €5150 and the draw will be held at Bingo on Sunday 5th June..